ARTICLES ABOUT BILATERAL AGREEMENT BY DATE - PAGE 4

NEW DELHI: With over 30,000 semi-skilled and unskilled workers headed for Bahrain to seek employment opportunities every year, the government on Thursday approved signing of a pact with that country on labour and manpower development. The agreement once functional will ensure protection of workers from exploitation and abuse and enhance employment opportunities for bilateral cooperation in protection and welfare of workers. "Once the agreement is signed, broad procedures of employment for Indian workers will be chalked out and their protection under relevant labour laws will be arranged for. "All work contracts can also be authenticated in the process and bilateral exchange of expertise on recruitment and job creation would be available," said an officia ?

NEW DELHI: In a statement that brings comfort to the Manmohan Singh government, US ambassador to India David Mulford has said that India has the sovereign right to conduct nuclear test. Mr Mulford's statement does not signify any great revelation as India's sovereign right to test remains uncontested in the bilateral agreement and the NSG waiver. "If you ask me can India conduct (nuclear) test, my answer is India has had and will always have the sovereign right to conduct a test.

NEW DELHI: Amid a controversy over a State Department letter, the US today said the fuel supplies to India will be governed by the 123 agreement even as it insisted that there was nothing in the letter that is "unknown" to New Delhi. US Ambassador David C Mulford insisted that there was "no discrepancy" between the 123 agreement and the views expressed by the Bush administration in the letter to Howard Berman, Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, in which the State Department said the assurance of fuel supplies was not to insulate India against consequences of a nuclear test.

MUMBAI: India and Japan on Monday concluded a bilateral arrangement for swapping of local currencies against the US dollar for up to $3 billion. The Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of India signed the agreement for addresing the short-term liquidity difficulties and supplementing the existing international financial arrangements, the RBI said in a release. The move will also help in strenghtning the ties between the countries. The countries will have bi-annual consultations on economic and financial conditions with the swap arrangement in effect

WASHINGTON: The Government of India is "committed" to the civilian nuclear deal with the US, the top Indian diplomat here has said, maintaining that New Delhi is only bound by the bilateral 123 Agreement that has been worked out by the two countries. Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen's comments come ahead a crucial UPA-Left committee on the nuclear deal on March 17 in the face of an ultimatum by the Government's Communist allies to make its stand clear on the agreement.

NEW DELHI: Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath will be meeting his European Union counterpart in London next week to resolve some of the obstacles in the India-EU trade agreement being negotiated to open market for each other. Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said while the negotiations on the ambitious Trade and Investment agreement have made progress, some issues need to be resolved. He said differences on a few areas was no surprise, given the fact the EU combined 27 nations, with each of them having different priorities and concerns.

NEW DELHI: India will push for the removal of stringent quality norms for export to the European Union in the bilateral trade and investment agreement that is being worked out now. Restrictions on supplying ayurvedic medicines to the EU countries, extremely low maximum residue limit (MRL) on products such as spices and registration problems faced by poultry and egg suppliers are high on India's agenda. The issues are likely to be brought up in the next India-EU high-level trade group meeting.

NEW DELHI: THE Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking Parliament's approval before going ahead with the agreement on Indo-US nuclear deal. A bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice RV Raveendran and Justice VS Sirpurkar said, "It is the prerogative of Parliament to decide. This is a policy matter which is not to be examined by the court. " Petitioner MN Ramamurthy, a Mumbai-based IITian appearing in person, said the issue was not discussed in Parliament.

NEW DELHI: With the Left allies stepping up the campaign against the Indo-US nuclear deal, the Congress has come out with a booklet rejecting charges that the agreement would affect India's ability to conduct an independent foreign policy and strategic programme. Putting forward its point of view in the key matter, the party has also denied that the 123 agreement would in any way affect India's right to conduct nuclear tests. The 21-page booklet brought out to counter "inadequate information, cynical criticism and partisan politics" said any informed discussion must trace India's "long and difficult" journey to attain nuclear self-reliance.